Space Station Crew Takes Short Soyuz Trip

ISS Expedition 12 commander Bill McArthur and flight engineer Valery Tokarev will take a brief flight aboard their Soyuz spacecraft early March 20, 2006. CREDIT: NASA/JSC.

Two astronauts flying high above Earth took a brief trip outside the International Space Station (ISS) early Monday aboard a Russian lifeboat.

ISS Expedition 12 commander Bill McArthur and flight engineer Valery Tokarev moved their Soyuz TMA-7 spacecraft between station docking ports in a 22-minute maneuver that paves the way for the next station crew's arrival.

"Ah sunrise, that's beautiful," McArthur said during the spaceflight.

Answering to the call sign "Sunrise," Tokarev commanded the Soyuz flight as the spacecraft undocked from the Earth-facing docking port outside the station's Zarya control module.

"We are observing separation," said Tokarev as the Soyuz left the ISS at 1:49 a.m. EST (0649 GMT) while both spacecraft passed over the South Atlantic Ocean.

The Soyuz spacecraft completed its 214-foot (65 meter) flight at 2:11 a.m. EST (0711 GMT), when it docked at the aft end of the station's Zvezda control module while flying over Libya.

"Congratulations," Russian ISS flight controllers said. "You are the first crew to dock at all the ports on the station."

McArthur and Tokarev arrived at the ISS in October 2005, when they docked their Soyuz spacecraft at the station's Russian-built Pirs docking compartment. They moved the Soyuz to the Zarya control module one month later, clearing Pirs for the Russian Progress 20 cargo ship that docked in December.

Relocating the Soyuz TMA-7 craft once more to the Zvezda docking port, which until last month was occupied by the Progress 19 supply ship, allows the Expedition 12 crew to free up the Zarya berth for the March 31 arrival of the next ISS crew. Expedition 13 commander Pavel Vinogradov, flight engineer Jeffrey Williams and ISS visitor Marcos Pontes, Brazil's first astronaut, are set to launch toward the station aboard their Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft on March 29 EST.

McArthur and Tokarev will open their Soyuz spacecraft's hatch at about 4:55 a.m. EST (0955 GMT) and reenter the ISS about 40 minutes later before concluding their day at 12:30 p.m. EST (1730 GMT).

The two astronauts are nearing the end of their six-month mission and will return to Earth with Pontes aboard their Soyuz TMA-7 spacecraft in early April.

• Space Station Crew Set for Short Soyuz Flight
• Complete Coverage: ISS Expedition 12
• Complete Coverage: ISS Expedition 13